THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Biden, South Korea’s Yoon to meet amid worries about North Korea

President Joe Biden is likely to get a warm welcome from South Korea’s leadership on his first trip to Asia, but he may face a less friendly greeting from North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Biden lands in South Korea on Friday evening, where he meets new President Yoon Suk-yeol, a relative newcomer to politics, for the first time in person. The two will tour a Samsung Electronics plant together Friday ahead of a full day of events on Saturday.

Biden and Yoon may quickly move from formalities to dealing with a weighty issue with North Korea at the top of the agenda. Leader Kim Jong Un abandoned a freeze on intercontinental ballistic missile testing and appears poised to resume testing of nuclear bombs, perhaps while Biden is in the region.

U.S. cooperation with South Korea and Japan “will only strengthen in the face of further provocations” by North Korea, Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters en route to South Korea when asked about the possibility of a weapons test.

“We are prepared for those eventualities,” Sullivan said. The United States has told allies and China that such a provocation during the U.S. visit would “cause adjustments to the way that our military is postured in the region,” he said.

Yoon has signaled he will take a tougher line on North Korea than his predecessor and is expected to ask for Biden’s help. Yoon has warned of a preemptive strike if there is a sign of an imminent attack and vowed to strengthen the South’s deterrent capability.

North Korea has revealed a COVID-19 outbreak in the past week, but it has ignored calls to return to diplomacy.

Washington has said it is open to direct talks at any time with Kim, but it has not publicly offered new ideas about how to coax the country’s leadership into conversation. Biden decided not to visit the heavily fortified demilitarized zone separating the South from North Korea.

Countering China’s presence in the region is a key Biden theme on the trip, but South Korea is likely to offer a cautious public tone on the topic given Beijing is Seoul’s top trading partner.

Hyundai Motor Co has been working on plans to build a new electric-vehicle manufacturing plant in the United States, and an announcement could coincide with Biden’s visit.

South Korea is also expected to be among the inaugural members of Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which will be announced during the trip to set standards on labor, the environment and supply chains.

Source: Reuters

UKRAINE CONFLICT: 5/20/2022

   

The latest in the ongoing Ukraine conflict:

• G7 pledges billions for Ukraine ‘to get through this’
  
• The imperfect shape of peace in Ukraine
• Captive medic's bodycam shows firsthand horror of Mariupol.
• Cannes: Ukraine sanctions having little impact on Riviera oligarchs

COVID-19 SITUATION: 5/20/2022

                                                             

The latest in the ongoing COVID-19 situation:

• As more countries reopen, PGH braces for exodus of healthcare workers
• DOH far from done paying COVID-hit front-liners
• 500 daily COVID cases seen
• North Korea hails "good results" on COVID as fever cases pass 2 million

Let's Do The News! (May 20, 2022)

   

Your daily round-up of today's news:

- The camp of PH President-elect Bongbong Marcos seeks the dismissal of disqualification petitions in the PH Supreme Court.

- The Commission on Human Rights is hoping that the Bongbong Marcos administration will recalibrate approach to the Philippines' drug problem.

- 39 hate crimes against Filipinos are documented in New York, according to a DFA official.

- Singer Bono and Pope Francis harmonize on climate change and girls' education.

- Australia reports a suspected monkeypox case from a returned traveler from Europe.

- Boeing's Starliner encounters propulsion problems while on its way to the ISS.

- Canada bans Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks.

- A 1955 Mercedes sells for 135 million euros at the RM Sotheby's auctions, becoming the world's most expensive car sold.

- The BMW G82 M4 CSL was unveiled. Limited to 1,000 units, its six-cylinder TwinPower engine is boosted to 550PS and it's 100kg lighter than the normal M4. It is known to be the fastest BMW to lap around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:15.677.

BMW M4 CSL

- Renault showcased the Scenic Vision concept, which previews the next-generation Scenic.

- Actress and presenter Anne Curtis will return to IT'S SHOWTIME tomorrow.

- Veteran actor Miguel Faustmann passed away at the age of 67.

TTFN

My FH5 Log: Ferrari de Mayo (Part 4)

The Series 7 update in Forza Horizon 5 celebrates Ferrari taking over the entire series playlists in time for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. The next one in the Ferrari de Mayo takeover in FH5 is the Ferrari 512TR, an improved version of the Testarossa that is yours to keep after getting enough points from the Dry Season Playlist.

The 512TR is the improved version of the Testarossa, which comes with the 4.9L Ferrari Colombo 12-cylinder engine that produces 428HP of power and 491Nm of torque. It can go 0-60 in under five seconds and has a top speed of 195mph.

With the quick introduction done, it's time to have a leisurely street race with the 512TR against the other boys. Expect this to be a rough one, of course. Send in the clip.

Enjoy your new ride!

My FH5 Log: Ferrari de Mayo (Part 3)

The Series 7 update in Forza Horizon 5 celebrates Ferrari taking over the entire series playlists in time for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. The next one in the Ferrari de Mayo takeover in FH5 is the newest addition to the Forza family; a plug-in hybrid Ferrari that inherits the teachings from the legendary LaFerrari. Say hello to the SF90 Stradale, the PHEV Ferrari that is yours to drive having gained enough points throughout Series 7.

First and foremost, what is the SF90 Stradale, you may ask?

Dubbed as one of the most controversial Ferraris ever made, the SF90 features a plug-in hybrid setup, a first for Ferrari, where the turbocharged F154 4.0L V8 engine, producing 780PS of power, is connected to three electric motors, two on the front axle and one between the engine and the 8-speed double-clutch gearbox, resulting to a monstrous 1,000PS of total power output that pushes the SF90 to a 0-100kph time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 340kph.

This car ain't no LaFerrari but the SF90 is a blistering fast supercar possessing hypercar levels of performance and track-honed dynamics that not only upsets the competition, it devours them completely like a true Ferrari. Not bad for a supercar that's about the size of an F8 Tributo but with the added PHEV powertrain that delivers a mega punch to the opposition, even Lamborghini.

To find out if the SF90 really has the strength of a hypercar, I've been challenged by a group of supercar drivers for a quick P2P sprint race. All I have to do is to beat them, showing the world just what the SF90's made for. Roll the tape.

Wow, do not mess with the Ferrari, the world said.

Despite its controversial outcome since its unveiling, the SF90 showcased that Ferrari's still reigning supreme even in the age of electrification. The LaFerrari proved the world that Ferrari's future-proof and the lessons learned from the LaFerrari have been applied to the SF90.

I wish I would end my discussion about the SF90 but it sure wants to face off a new Ferrari coming to FH5 later. I don't know what that is but this is one thing I'm looking forward to it. Until then...

...enjoy your new SF90!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: US says 'possibility' of N.Korea nuclear test during Biden's Asia trip

 

The United States believes there is a “genuine possibility” that North Korea could conduct a nuclear test or other saber rattling while Joe Biden is on his first trip as president to Asia, a top US official said Wednesday.

“Our intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility” of nuclear-capable missile tests or a nuclear weapon test around the time of Biden’s trip, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

Biden departs Thursday for a series of summits hosted by US allies South Korea and Japan.

Sullivan said it was possible that North Korea, which has defied UN sanctions in conducting an array of missile tests this year, could use Biden’s visit to stage “provocations.”

This could mean “further missile tests, long range missile tests or a nuclear test, or frankly both, in the days leading into, on or after the president’s trip to the region,” he said.

The Biden administration is prepared to “make both short and longer term adjustments to our military posture as necessary to ensure that we are providing both defensive deterrence to our allies in the region and that we’re responding.”

Sullivan said a potential response was being “closely” coordinated with South Korea and Japan and that he had also spoken about the issue with his Chinese counterpart earlier Wednesday.

Source: Agence-France-Presse